Shell taps financial advisor for IPO

MANILA, Philippines - Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. has tapped a financial advisor for its planned initial public offering, targeted for next year.

“We’re preparing a lot of things including the regulatory requirements of the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange) and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) as well as the roadshow requirements,” said Shell country chair Ed Chua on the sidelines of the Management Association of the Philippines’ awarding of the MAP Management Man of the Year 2015.

“We already have a financial advisor. So we’re now preparing. By next year hopefully, (we will proceed) either before or after the (May presidential and national) elections,” Chua said.

Rothschild is a global financial advisor that has a track record of handling the world’s biggest IPOs.  It has previously worked with UK oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, for the sale of 9.5 percent of Woodside Petroleum.

Sources said the company is also in talks with the Bank of the Philippine Islands to help in the transaction.

Chua said the company could sell even more than the minimum requirement of 10 percent of its common stock.

The oil company had earlier raised its authorized capital to 2.5 billion shares from one billion previously, in preparation for its planned listing.

With the higher capital and improved financial position, Shell has now cleared all the roadblocks for its IPO, which has been overdue for more than a decade now.

The Oil Deregulation Act of 1998 mandates oil companies including Shell to list at least 10 percent of their common stock within a period of three years since the effectivity of the law.